People Who Say They are No Good are Always the

A Wizard of Earthsea

When Sparrowhawk casts a spell that saves his village from destruction, Ogion, the Mage of Re Albi, encourages the boy to apprentice himself in the art of wizardry....

Elegant & unique fantasy, deliciously performed

By
Finance Guy
on
08-03-10

The Hobbit

By:
J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by:
Rob Inglis

Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins

Unabridged

Overall

26,668

Performance

23,994

Story

24,191

Like every other hobbit, Bilbo Baggins likes nothing better than a quiet evening in his snug hole in the ground, dining on a sumptuous dinner in front of a fire....

Classic

By
🇺🇸🎄DARA
on
06-06-13

The Lost Prince

By:
Frances Hodgson Burnett

Narrated by:
David Thorn

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Unabridged

Overall

47

Performance

42

Story

43

The adventure of two boys on a secret mission to save Samavia from its wicked rulers....

Great start with under-developed ending.

By
Kevin Bass
on
06-18-15

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia

By:
C.S. Lewis

Narrated by:
Michael York

Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins

Unabridged

Overall

7,547

Performance

4,436

Story

4,490

Narnia...the land beyond the wardrobe door, a secret place frozen in eternal winter, a magical country waiting to be set free....

Sound level a small problem

By
Valerie
on
08-05-05

Howl's Moving Castle

By:
Diana Wynne Jones

Narrated by:
Jenny Sterlin

Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3,798

Performance

3,326

Story

3,348

On a rare venture out from her step-mother's hat shop, Sophie attracts the attention of a witch, who casts a terrible spell transforming the young girl into an old crone....

Better than the movie... and that's saying a lot.

By
Candace
on
09-26-12

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

By:
Robert O’Brien

Narrated by:
Barbara Caruso

Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins

Unabridged

Overall

781

Performance

678

Story

692

This delightfully imaginative tale is always a popular favorite among children....

RAT RACE

By
Jim "The Impatient"
on
12-02-15

Sabriel

By:
Garth Nix

Narrated by:
Tim Curry

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3,703

Performance

2,916

Story

2,922

Ever since she was a tiny child, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead...

Enraptured

By
TOY E. HICKS
on
06-20-09

The Way of Kings

Book One of The Stormlight Archive

By:
Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by:
Kate Reading,
Michael Kramer

Length: 45 hrs and 37 mins

Unabridged

Overall

39,816

Performance

35,564

Story

35,600

In a war that makes no sense, ten armies fight separately against a single foe....

Wow - 45 hours long and leaves you wanting more!

By
Lore
on
03-31-12

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

By:
E. L. Konigsburg

Narrated by:
Jill Clayburgh

Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins

Unabridged

Overall

741

Performance

606

Story

614

When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn't just want to run from somewhere; she wants to run to somewhere....

How to be different on the inside, where it counts

By
Bonny
on
04-28-13

The Last Unicorn

By:
Peter S. Beagle

Narrated by:
Peter S. Beagle

Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins

Unabridged

Overall

902

Performance

787

Story

797

A unicorn, a haphazard wizard, and a spunky scullery woman journey to the dreaded kingdom of Haggaard, an evil ruler who imprisons all the unicorns of the world....

My favorite movie on the page

By
Lucy
on
04-05-14

Peter and the Starcatchers

The Starcatchers, Book 1

By:
Dave Barry,
Ridley Pearson

Narrated by:
Jim Dale

Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins

Unabridged

Overall

2,543

Performance

2,009

Story

2,001

Peter and his mysterious new friend, Molly, overcome bands of pirates and thieves in their quest to keep a fantastical secret safe and save the world from evil....

A fast paced frolic on the high seas!

By
Deborah
on
12-19-08

Mary Poppins

The Mary Poppins Series, Book 1

By:
P. L. Travers

Narrated by:
Sophie Thompson

Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins

Unabridged

Overall

836

Performance

745

Story

741

Here is the timeless story of Mary Poppins, the world's favorite nanny, and her magical adventures with the Banks family....

Delightful! - Excellent Narration

By
Deena
on
08-16-14

The Psammead Trilogy

Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Story of the Amulet

By:
E. Nesbit,
Edith Nesbit

Narrated by:
Cathy Dobson

Length: 21 hrs and 8 mins

Unabridged

Overall

43

Performance

39

Story

40

Edith Nesbit was to children in the early 20th century what J.K. Rowling is to today's young generation. Magic, mythical creatures, time travel, charms, words of power... Nesbit's stories have it all....

Quaint

By
jaspersu
on
08-06-15

Swallows and Amazons

By:
Arthur Ransome

Narrated by:
Alison Larkin

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Unabridged

Overall

286

Performance

230

Story

225

Swallows and Amazons introduces the Walker family, the camp on Wild Cat Island, the able-bodied catboat "Swallow," and the two intrepid Amazons, plucky Nancy and Peggy Blackett....

Idyllic, Funny, Vivid Childhood Adventure-Play

By
Jefferson
on
02-05-11

The Cricket in Times Square

By:
George Selden

Narrated by:
Tony Shalhoub

Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins

Unabridged

Overall

350

Performance

284

Story

278

Tucker is a streetwise city mouse. He thought he'd seen it all....

Great story!

By
Mom2Skye
on
06-19-15

Publisher's Summary

The Chronicles of Prydain, Books 1 &amp 2:

Book 1: The Book of Three:

Taran, The Assistant Pig-Keeper, longs to be a hero.

He begins his journey with a strange assortment of companions on a dangerous mission to save his beloved land, Prydain. Packed with action, humor, romance, and gallantry, Taran's adventures chronicle his beloved Prydain and his battle with the forces of evil.

Book 2: The Black Cauldron

Peace reigns in Caer Dallben, where Taran works as Assistant Pig-Keeper, but evil threatens the rest of Prydain. The diabolical Arawn’s army grows every day, and his terrible warriors never die. They are born in the Black Cauldron from the stolen bodies of slain soldiers. If evil is to be defeated, the cauldron must be destroyed. Taran volunteers to travel to Arawn’s stronghold and assist in the destruction of the dreaded cauldron. With his faithful friends reassembled, Taran marches off to face great danger with a courageous heart.

Performance

Story

Thoroughly Enjoyable Adventures With A Pig Keeper

Taran the assistant pig keeper and his adventures kept me amused and entertained. Definitely a young adult book/series for the entire family. I love all the characters, the chivalrous knight, the princess, the old warrior, the talking pig. Both books use medieval imagery to tell subtle stories about the destructive sides of pride, desire, ignorance, and envy. I look forward to more of the series.

Two For One Young Adult Fantasy - It Gets Better

Book of ThreeIf ever a book could have benefitted from a rewrite by its author's more mature self, this is it. At times this is _almost_ a good YA fantasy. Despite obvious Tolkien analogues and clumsy writing. Despite hand-waving and nonsensical explanations of MAJOR plot events. The book is at its strongest when it leans on Welsh legends and fairy tales.

The Black CauldronThis book is far better than the first book in the series. In fact, I might encourage people to read a summary of book 1 (or not) and just start with this one. The same cast of characters reappear but with greater depth. And this time they actually play a direct role in the book's major events. As a young adult book The Black Cauldron shines, there is a growth arc and a good moral lesson - one that's imparted without any level of &quot;preaching.&quot; It also has a strong female character, even if she is often dismissed by the pig-headed men of the story.

Prydain chronicles.

Stumbled across the full version of this anthology of books in my high school library. It was the first hardcover version with all five novels and the companion book of short stories that were the pre cursor to the five novels. Loved the entire series and I have looked for a long time to get the Prydain chronicles as it was in the school library, but finally just had to break down and buy each piece of the puzzle separately.

A story of heroes

So many of today's novels are of dystopian societies. Lloyd Alexander's novels are also stories of good and evil, and there is treachery and deception, but there is honor, which I find lacking in too many of today's novels. In Alexander's novel, the weak become strong through necessity, and even those that waiver between good and evil are redeemed in the end. I prefer this view of humankind, and hope that it will carry over from fantasy books into the hearts and actions of the readers in the real world.

A Childhood Favorite Now an Old Man's Delight

A SOLID FANTASY--much better than the movie

Until recently, I didn't realize that Disney's "The Black Calderon" was actually based off a book. When I heard that there was a book, and that Disney did not do the original story justice, I had to check it out. And I have to say, I really enjoyed this story. The protagonist is much more interesting than the Disney version.

It's a classic coming of age story in which our young hero learns that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. I was impressed with how little the author used exposition. For example the concept of the bard's magic harp that breaks a string each time he, um, stretches the truth was clear but it was never spelled out.

I don't want to get into spoilers so I'll just say if you're looking for a good fantasy adventure you've found one here.